White House bailout meeting went badly: Democrats
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic congressional leaders told party members on Thursday that a White House meeting to try to reach a deal on a financial market bailout package went badly, two Democrats said.
Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, told reporters after a party caucus meeting that it looked like Republican presidential candidate John "McCain and the Republican caucus are blocking this bill."
McCain announced on Wednesday he was suspending he presidential campaign to return to Washington to work on the deal. He participated in a meeting at the White House with Democratic rival Barack Obama and key administration and congressional players in the negotiations.
Sherman said Democratic lawmakers were told that dealbreakers for the White House include mortgage bankruptcy reform and limits on the pay of the executives of companies that would sell assets to the U.S. Treasury under the bailout proposals.
"Bankruptcy reform is a dealbreaker for the White House" and so are corporate executive pay limits, Sherman said. "On more than one occasion, the statement was made that if we put that in the bill, the president will not sign it," he said.
Rep. Allen Boyd, a Florida Democrat, said McCain's visit to the White House threw the negotiations over the bailout package into disarray.
"What's he done? This did not help matters ... it just makes it much more complicated," Boyd said. "McCain has come in and tried to play the hero."
